I’ve had several questions over the past two weeks about how many heat units we have accumulated and how this compares to our average year.  As of August 28th, we have accumulated 1,974 DD60s since May 1.  We’ve broken from the 30 year average trend line several times throughout the year; May was considerably warmer, June pulled us back to the average trend line, and although we have been rolling above and below the line from the end of July through August, as of August 28th, we are within 15 heat units of the 30 year trend line; on average, by August 28th, we accumulate 1,961 DD60s.  As you look at the above graph, you may notice these breaks with the trend line are ever-so-slight.  Keep in mind rate of change is important.  If you zoom in on several of the regions highlighted above, you can see how our weather this year breaks from the trend line before rejoining it throughout the season. Continue reading →

The 2023 Cotton Tour will be held Sept. 13, 2023 at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center (605 Airways Blvd, Jackson, TN 38305).  Pesticide recertification and CCA points will be available.  Lunch will be provided.  We will also be touching on a few other commodities (soybeans, corn).  An agenda will be posted to the blog in the coming weeks. Look forward to seeing you there!

Temperatures this week have really pushed our crop; node above white flower counts are crashing and bolls are hardening in our earliest crop well-up past the middle of the plant.  Many of those who have the option of irrigating their cotton have called this week to discuss if the rewards for irrigating outweigh the risks.  In this blog, I try to outline those discussions to help those in a similar situation. Continue reading →

August has turned wet, and while I generally like rain through July and August, we could now tolerate a few dry, clear days.  Much of our canopy has remained wet over the past week, and as you might expect, the leaf spot complex has appeared in some of our earliest planted cotton. Subsequently, foliar fungicide use in cotton has been the topic of conversation for August. Fortunately, most of our research on fungicide use in cotton is pretty straight-forward.  In this blog, I share a few thoughts concerning foliar fungicide use in cotton and link to a few of Dr. Heather Kelly’s deliverables from the past few years. Continue reading →

The MidSouth Cotton Specialists’ Working Group (MSCSWG) has compiled the 2023 Cotton Variety Guide for Plant Growth Regulation.  This information was constructed based on the MSCSWG’s experience with each of the varieties, company ratings, and discussions with other agronomists.  To access a pdf of the document, click the above image.

Several deep silt loam fields I’ve walked this week are a little ahead of management; the internode between the 4th and 5th nodes down from the top of many plant has already stretched beyond 3 inches, and with the rains moving through the area this week, I suspect the upper internodes will likely continue to grow longer than desired.  Many of these acres have already received their first shot of PGR, but we weren’t aggressive enough with that application to properly regulate growth.  In this article, I cover a few thoughts on bringing these acres back into check without negatively impacting yields. Continue reading →

Our earliest planted acres have turned the corner and most of our later planted acres are right behind them.  I expect this crop to take off with the rain forecast for next week.  In this blog, I provide a few thoughts on the crop as we move into July.

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Although many in the state have finished planting, several are touching up wet spots or the occasional drowned out field.  Unfortunately, others have seemed to catch two-fold the rainfall of the rest of the state and still have a large amount of ground to cover before they’ll near completion. In this article, I briefly discuss several important factors to consider during the replant or late plant scenario and provide a little data on yield potential by plant date. Continue reading →